Antarctic sea life abounds below the ice

A student who has been on three Antarctic expeditions and who mapped how marine species obtain and utilise food under the frozen ice in those frozen coastal waters will be awarded his PhD at Southern Cross University’s Sydney graduation at the Wesley Conference Centre this Saturday.

Chris Gillies, a research manager with Earthwatch Australia, joined forces with scientists from SCU and the Australian Antarctic Division to track the primary food sources such as sea weed and small microscopic plants in larger invertebrates such as urchins, sea stars and sea cucumber and into predators such as fish.

The results showed that Antarctic marine species rely on several sources of food to survive and the ecosystem can support long food chains with many predators.

“In contrast to the stereotypical image of penguins and seals basking on the frozen continent, most of the wildlife in Antarctica is found below the sea ice in coastal waters where there is a rich array of marine life,” he said.

“Coastal marine waters resemble many rocky reefs found around southern Victoria or Tasmania in the diversity of marine algae, fish and invertebrates. However, due to the cold waters and slow metabolism many invertebrates such as sea stars and sea spiders can grow up to three times the size they normally could in warmer temperate waters.

“The study forms part of a larger baseline study which aims to map the complex relationship between species and their food sources in Antarctic coastal waters which are expected to alter due to climate change reducing sea ice which in turn increases the amount of sunlight reaching the seafloor.

“Bottom feeders, which tend to graze on seaweed and other small algae, many increase in abundance and outcompete those species which currently predominate under low light-high sea ice conditions.”

The soon to be Dr Gillies, spent three seasons living and working as an Australian Antarctic Expeditioner and marine biologist on board the Aurora Australis in the Southern Ocean. A keen diver, he also completed his commercial diver’s certification and spent as long as 90 minutes on a dive submerged in the sub-zero conditions.

Mr Gillies will be one of 182 students who will receive their degrees on Saturday. He is the only PhD graduate, however there are also two Doctorate of Business Administration graduates. Meanwhile, John Vlado Berwick will receive the Thomas Noble and Russell Prize for accounting.

The occasional speaker for the first ceremony at 1pm is Craig Phillips. Mr Phillips, an SCU alumni, is secretary general of the Australian Olympic Committee and a member of its executive board. His career in sports management and administration has spanned 30 years, 22 with the Australian Olympic Committee and the past eight in his current role. Mr Phillips has served on the management of 11 Olympic teams from Barcelona in 1992 to London last year. He is the chief operating officer and a member of the 2014 Team Executive. The Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, next year will be his 12th Olympic Team.

The occasional speaker for the second ceremony at 4pm is John van der Wallen. He is asset manager for the Starhill Hotels, the group’s Australian assets consists of the Sydney Harbour Marriott, The Melbourne Marriott and the Brisbane Marriott.

Photo: Chris Gillies takes a plunge in the Southern Ocean.